Firecracker
by NGMessiah
Summary: The Gaang decided Zuko needs to take a break from being the Fire Lord after so many failed attempts on his life and start having fun. It just happened that Sokka's idea of having fun might involve some Cactus Juice.


It was a fine day in the Capital of Fire Nation, the right amount of sunlight coming from the skies lifted the spirit of the citizen bender or non-bender alike. The war is over and the balance has been returned, it is clear as the day that the world won't going to end soon. Maybe.

Pairs of pale golden eyes tracked the movement of a certain scarred man who might or might not be the most important person in the country, second only to the Avatar, a young Airbender who walked with him and his friends. Each of them is a master of their own trade.

An assassin mostly stayed silent and wait patiently until his or her target is vulnerable to land a decisive strike, the one and only killing blow. This time, the target is Fire Lord Zuko who should be easier to approach due to the lack of guards surrounding him. Emphasis on easy.

"Sweet Agni, what should I do now? The target is right in front of me and I can hardly do anything."

It will be easy to run over him and stab a knife to his stomach or something, only to find yourself facing the wrath of his friends minus the Airbender. They were known for being a pacifist who only resorted to combat during the direst situation, after all.

Still, the assassin doubted if the avatar can stop his friends from murdering her the moment her hands are stained with the Fire Lord's blood. It was her doubt and self-restraint that keep her alive after all of this, being a good assassin also helps as a bad assassin is a dead one. Meng realized she has to wait for her target to be alone for it to work.

"My, isn't it the Avatar and the Fire Lord with his friends. How can I help you?"

Asked the woman who tended the tavern, possessing the appearance of typical fire nation beauties. Zuko and his friends asked for a place to sit while thinking what they will be having for this good day, something cool and relaxing will do.

The woman realized another person has entered and offered her a warm smile, not knowing of the fact that said person is here to kill one of her customers. She had met the person so many times before and served her one of the tavern's finest drinks, giving her no reason to be suspicious of her to be here right now.

"Oh, it's you again Miss Meng. You come here yesterday and the day before that."

Meng was there just yesterday, drinking to her contents like the other day. Call it a hobby, but it is the only thing she can do to put her mind elsewhere of what happened on that day. Witnessing someone's death up close every day while being the person responsible for most of it tends to have some side effects on the mind. It is not her fault the spirits gave her the ability to bends the heat inside someone's body.

"Today's special is something from the desert, that Water Tribe man over them says it is the quenchiest. I can give you a free sample if you like, seeing you are our best customer."

"Thanks, I guess."

A few drinks in the middle of the work never hurts, Meng had already done it on few occasions and she managed just fine. Pushing the thought that the owner of the bar could trick her into drinking some kind of poisons, she accepted her offer for a free drink right away without a second thought.

Aunt Xiu? Poisoning her? Ridiculous. She was kind to her even if she never asked for any of it. When the woman is back with the beverage, it was her duty to smile and thank her for being kind to her when no one else does.

Meng did not know how very mistaken she was when she thought everything will go well after that one drink. It did not take long for her mind to cease working normally and she lost herself to the drink's peculiar property. Her sudden and uncontrollable fit of laughter alerted the gang of her fate.

"I thought you heard me when I told you not to touch the cactus juice again. See that girl over there?"

"She looks like she is having fun. What? I am an adult this time around, just a single bottle will be fine!" Defended Sokka who wanted to win an argument against his sister for this time around.

"Just because you grow yourself a beard doesn't make you an adult, Sokka. We already talked about this many times."

Zuko did not talk much with his friends, his mind is still filled with various uncertainties. He already feels so much pressure for being the great-grandson of Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku although it was nothing compared to the pressure of being Fire Lord Zuko. Why his mother wanted him to get married and start having children at this time, he had no idea.

It's just made worse knowing some of his people obviously wanted him dead. They did not send assassins after him just to remind him to train some more on his free time.

Like that generic Fire Nation girl sitting on the other side of the bar, for example. She previously has the gaze of a hunter stalking her prey before she began drooling like an idiot after she chugged down that suspicious drink.

"Is something the matter, my liege? Have you finally decided something to order?"

Zuko needs to reconfigure his thought, he is starting to think everyone he sees is an assassin out for his life. Even this seemingly helpless woman who called herself Aunt Xiu.

Breathe in, breathe out. The current Fire Lord did it to calm himself, causing the multicolored flames on the candle to follow his breath. There are reasons why Aunt Xiu's tavern is one of the best in the city. The decorations sort of remind the people that something as destructive as fire can be pleasant and be relaxing to look at.

"Why are you so tense? Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"Aang is right, no one is stupid enough to attack when we are together like this. They are afraid of my mad boomerang skills! Here, watch this!"

"The target is me, they will try everything. No offense, Sokka, but they will just ignore you and went straight to me like a fly-moth to the flame."

He tried to recall that one moment when an assassin took a direct approach and rush him when he is alone with his sister. That person was lucky to only have burnt clothes and a few scars since Kiwi tends to go overboard with her flames. Without a doubt, she is one of the most powerful Firebender around, lacking only in control of the element itself. Roku's bloodline is not something to be messed with.

Zuko knows what Sokka is thinking right now, he probably wanted to bask his boomerang into the thick skull of whoever tried to hit him. Meanwhile, the fire nation girl started running in circles, thinking if she has grown a tail and is chasing after it.

"You should enjoy living some more, my liege. Fire is life and you are the Fire Lord, after all. How about I treat you and your friends to free meals and drink?"

"Do you have any seal jerkies?" At the mention of the word free meals and drink, Sokka is always the first one to talk. Anything to distract him from feeling uncomfortable from the pair of lovebirds sitting next to him, sure.

Toph did not say anything, she has been asked by Zuko to keep watch of the entire area of anyone suspicious. The tavern attendant does not seem to notice this and dismissed the girl's behavior as being shy. How very wrong of her.

"We are going outside to enjoy the breeze, see you later."

Aunt Xiu asked her remaining customers if they wanted to try one of her newest inventions. For free, of course. She wouldn't dare to charge a single coin from the heroes who saved the world. The world she is currently living in, to be exact. It wasn't her duty to be concerned with the Spirit World and its inhabitant.

"Tastes good, isn't it? It's a coffee made from the dung of a civet-cat. I'm glad you like it."

Maybe she shouldn't have said where the beans come from. It caused some of her customers to spit it out after her unneeded explanation reached their ears. The precious Fire Lord might have executed her on the spot for that, but fortunately, Zuko is not his father.

"Let's try something else. What else do you want to drink?"

"You still have the cactus juice?"

Without Aang and Katara being the group's voice of reasons, it was not surprising if no one said no to the highly intoxicating beverages. What doesn't kills you make you stronger. Perhaps, if Sokka drinks enough, he will start resisting the less wanted side-effect of the cactus juice and keep himself sober afterward?

"We will see if you are right."

Part of Zuko agreed with Sokka's way of thinking. It worked for poisons, so why wouldn't it work for simple drinks? It was only logical that the body of an average person could adapt to any threat both from inside and the outside as long as the said person is still alive and kicking.

First, he needs to know how it smells and tastes, to avoid someone slipping it on his drinks. Chance are that some assassins would try using this method in the near future and he needs to be prepared. If he can't avoid having the juice entering his systems, he should try familiarizing himself with its effect to find a way to resist it.

The day the Fire Lord's lips touched the glass were made into a national holiday. His rates of getting caught in another assassination attempt decreased to zero and everyone started praising him more than usual. The last thing he remembered before his mind went blank was talking with Zuko about girls, out of all things.

He doesn't remember the bet he made with his drinking buddy while he is drunk. Try to confess to the girls you think of, whoever does it without getting rejected can order the loser around for a week. Unfortunately for Sokka, his girls were either turned into the moon or were somewhere around the place he couldn't reach in time with her fellow warriors.

Zuko has no such misfortune, he just walked into a nearby florist and grab some flowers to impress the girl in his mind. He woke up in the morning with a severe headache, in the top of someone who looked like Mai. It's quite obvious why the person he ended up with looked remarkably like his former love interest. That's because it's the real deal.

Later, in that week. The Fire Nation is happy to welcome the newest addition to the royal family. A Fire Lady is what every Fire Lord worth his salt needs to not go insane and burn everything in a fit of a blaze. Or whatever, maybe those people only wanted to see some royal babies. 


End file.
